Jesus said, ‘[The Pharisees] tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders’ (Matthew 23:4 NIV). They imposed rules that people couldn’t keep, and on the rare occasion when they could keep them it didn’t bring them any joy. When Jesus died for us, He took away the rules and regulations that had once been in place. We’re saved by grace, grace that’s a gift to us. ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God’ (Ephesians 2:8 NIV). When we’re trying to live in a Christ-like way, we don’t need to impose rules on ourselves. There aren’t certain numbers of hours we need to spend praying, reading the Bible and serving at church. When we forget that and allow guilt, about not being good enough or not doing enough, to creep in, we can became burnt out. We end up tired from doing too much or frustrated that we’re not measuring up to the standards we’ve set that we decide there’s no point trying to do anything anymore because we’ll only fall short. When we’re feeling like this, Jesus says to us: ‘Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn how to live freely and lightly’ (Matthew 11:28-30 MSG).
What now?
If you’re feeling burned out, set aside your usual Bible reading and prayer schedule for the day. Instead, use that time to just rest with Jesus, enjoying His presence and letting Him refresh you.